Individual Game Analysis
1 Game Profile
1.1 Estimated Outcomes on BGG
This table displays the selected game’s current values on four BGG outcomes (UsersRated, Average, GeekRating, Weight) along with my predictive model(s) estimated values for where these games are likely to end up.
Published | ID | Name | Type | UserRatings | Average | GeekRating | Weight |
2022 | Current | 34 | 8.53 | 5.54 | 4.50 | ||
Estimated | 200 | 7.94 | 5.74 | 3.59 |
To see more information about the game on boardgamegeek, click on the game’s ID or Name to go straight to the game’s profile page.
1.2 Game Description
Description |
"Into the Woods: the Battle of Shiloh" is the eighth installment of the Great Battles of the American Civil War (GBACW) series, published by GMT Games. |
1.3 Game Information
Information on the game’s designers, artists, families, mechanics and categories from BGG.
Published | ID | Name | Publisher(s) | Designer(s) | Artist(s) | Categories | Families | Mechanics |
2022 | GMT Games | Richard H. Berg | Charles Kibler | American Civil War | Country: USA | Dice Rolling | ||
Richard Whitaker | Rodger B. MacGowan | Wargame | Series: Great Battles of the American Civil War (Richard H. Berg) | Hexagon Grid | ||||
States: Tennessee | Line of Sight | |||||||
For the full profile of the selected game, click on the links in the table or go to https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/300036
1.4 Explaining Predictions
For each of the predictions above, I used models that were trained on historical boardgamegeek data in order to predict the selected game. How did the model(s) arrive at their predictions? The following plot displays Shapley values to indicate what features were most influential for the model’s predictions. Anything in blue increased the model’s predictions, anything in red decreased the model’s predictions.
2 Finding Similar Games
What games are similar to Into the Woods: The Battle of Shiloh, April 6-7,1862? I compare the selected game to every other game on boardgamegeek based on its mechanics, playing time, complexity, and game type. The tables below display the games which had the most similar data to Into the Woods: The Battle of Shiloh, April 6-7,1862. The reported similarity is the cosine similarity between the selected game and all other games published before 2021.
This similarity score ranges from -1 to 1, where similarity of 1 indicates that games are exactly identical (a game will have a score of 1 with itself).
Note: This analysis does not look at a game’s ratings on BGG, publisher, artist, or designer - it focuses on finding similar games based on how they play, not how they are rated or by their theme.
2.1 Most Similar Games
The table below displays games with the most similar data to Into the Woods: The Battle of Shiloh, April 6-7,1862. Click on a game’s ID or Name to go straight to its profile on boardgamegeek.
Rank | Published | ID | Name | Similarity | GeekRating | Average | Weight | UserRatings |
-- | 2022 | 1.00 | 5.54 | 8.53 | 3.59 | 34 | ||
1 | 2015 | 0.99 | 5.60 | 8.83 | 4.33 | 75 | ||
2 | 2012 | 0.97 | 5.65 | 8.61 | 4.21 | 108 | ||
3 | 2017 | 0.97 | 5.57 | 8.36 | 4.20 | 53 | ||
4 | 1996 | 0.97 | 5.59 | 7.06 | 3.33 | 114 | ||
5 | 1993 | 0.97 | 5.62 | 7.10 | 3.50 | 161 | ||
6 | 2011 | 0.97 | 5.71 | 8.53 | 4.23 | 159 | ||
7 | 2003 | 0.96 | 6.10 | 7.54 | 3.04 | 796 | ||
8 | 1998 | 0.95 | 5.75 | 7.34 | 3.58 | 295 | ||
9 | 2012 | Panzer: The Game of Small Unit Actions and Combined Arms Operations on the Eastern Front 1943-45 | 0.95 | 5.92 | 7.80 | 3.73 | 450 | |
10 | 2008 | 0.94 | 5.97 | 8.25 | 3.83 | 404 | ||
11 | 2002 | 0.94 | 5.77 | 7.59 | 3.53 | 273 | ||
12 | 1999 | River of Death: Battle of Chickamauga, September 19-20, 1863 | 0.94 | 5.58 | 7.42 | 3.53 | 78 | |
13 | 2006 | 0.93 | 5.54 | 8.04 | 3.14 | 42 | ||
14 | 1984 | 0.91 | 5.65 | 7.28 | 3.00 | 189 | ||
15 | 2013 | 0.91 | 5.55 | 8.00 | 3.75 | 49 | ||
16 | 2009 | 0.91 | 5.69 | 7.85 | 3.92 | 174 | ||
17 | 1978 | 0.90 | 5.65 | 7.74 | 3.84 | 145 | ||
18 | 2019 | 0.90 | 5.54 | 7.93 | 3.57 | 49 | ||
19 | 1989 | 0.89 | 5.65 | 6.71 | 3.42 | 284 | ||
20 | 2004 | 0.89 | 5.53 | 8.00 | 3.27 | 31 | ||
21 | 2019 | 0.89 | 5.54 | 7.80 | 3.25 | 35 | ||
22 | 2007 | De Bellis Magistrorum Militum: Wargame Rules for Ancient and Medieval Battle from 3000 BC to 1525 AD | 0.89 | 5.53 | 6.74 | 4.10 | 65 | |
23 | 2008 | 0.89 | 5.61 | 7.71 | 4.50 | 131 | ||
24 | 1975 | 0.88 | 5.63 | 7.82 | 3.88 | 125 | ||
25 | 1992 | 0.88 | 5.86 | 6.91 | 4.53 | 746 |
Click on the ID or Name for any game to go its profile page on boardgamegeek.
2.2 Most Similar, Highly Rated Games
What games are similar to Into the Woods: The Battle of Shiloh, April 6-7,1862 while also being highly rated by the boardgamegeek community? In this table I multiply every neighboring game’s similarity score by its GeekRating. The resulting score is an attempt to balance these two quantities.
Rank | Published | ID | Name | Score | Similarity | GeekRating | Average | Weight | UserRatings |
-- | 2022 | 5.54 | 1.00 | 5.54 | 8.53 | 3.59 | 34 | ||
1 | 2003 | 5.83 | 0.96 | 6.10 | 7.54 | 3.04 | 796 | ||
2 | 2008 | 5.62 | 0.94 | 5.97 | 8.25 | 3.83 | 404 | ||
3 | 2012 | Panzer: The Game of Small Unit Actions and Combined Arms Operations on the Eastern Front 1943-45 | 5.61 | 0.95 | 5.92 | 7.80 | 3.73 | 450 | |
4 | 2015 | 5.54 | 0.99 | 5.60 | 8.83 | 4.33 | 75 | ||
5 | 2011 | 5.53 | 0.97 | 5.71 | 8.53 | 4.23 | 159 | ||
6 | 2012 | 5.51 | 0.97 | 5.65 | 8.61 | 4.21 | 108 | ||
7 | 1998 | 5.49 | 0.95 | 5.75 | 7.34 | 3.58 | 295 | ||
8 | 1993 | 5.45 | 0.97 | 5.62 | 7.10 | 3.50 | 161 | ||
9 | 2017 | 5.43 | 0.97 | 5.57 | 8.36 | 4.20 | 53 | ||
10 | 2002 | 5.42 | 0.94 | 5.77 | 7.59 | 3.53 | 273 | ||
11 | 1996 | 5.42 | 0.97 | 5.59 | 7.06 | 3.33 | 114 | ||
12 | 2008 | 5.41 | 0.87 | 6.24 | 8.02 | 3.86 | 793 | ||
13 | 1974 | 5.29 | 0.84 | 6.29 | 7.06 | 3.11 | 2,015 | ||
14 | 1999 | River of Death: Battle of Chickamauga, September 19-20, 1863 | 5.23 | 0.94 | 5.58 | 7.42 | 3.53 | 78 | |
15 | 2007 | 5.21 | 0.87 | 5.99 | 7.49 | 2.59 | 654 | ||
16 | 1992 | 5.18 | 0.88 | 5.86 | 6.91 | 4.53 | 746 | ||
17 | 2009 | 5.16 | 0.91 | 5.69 | 7.85 | 3.92 | 174 | ||
18 | 2013 | 5.16 | 0.87 | 5.94 | 8.00 | 2.70 | 391 | ||
19 | 1984 | 5.15 | 0.91 | 5.65 | 7.28 | 3.00 | 189 | ||
20 | 2006 | 5.14 | 0.93 | 5.54 | 8.04 | 3.14 | 42 | ||
21 | 1986 | 5.08 | 0.86 | 5.91 | 7.29 | 3.43 | 582 | ||
22 | 1978 | 5.07 | 0.90 | 5.65 | 7.74 | 3.84 | 145 | ||
23 | 2013 | 5.06 | 0.91 | 5.55 | 8.00 | 3.75 | 49 | ||
24 | 1989 | 5.05 | 0.89 | 5.65 | 6.71 | 3.42 | 284 | ||
25 | 2013 | 5.04 | 0.85 | 5.94 | 7.99 | 3.32 | 446 |
2.3 Why Are Games Considered Similar?
I first ran a dimension reduction method (PCA) to identify the main points of variation for games on BGG. The first 25 components explained roughly 50% of the overall variation in the dataset, so I computed the cosine similarity between every game’s score on these 25 components.
2.3.1 Plotting All Games
The following plot shows every game on BGG plotted on the first two principal components of variation. I then highlight where the selected game and its nearest neighbors fall on these first two components.
2.3.2 Game Profiles
Similarity scores are based on 25 principal components - the next table displays the selected game and its neighbors profiles on each of these components.
2.3.3 Examining Components
What are these components? The following plot shows which features contribute the most to each component.
